Empanadas "Pastries Filled with Vegetables, Tuna, or Meat"

Empanadas are a breeze to make with this easy classic Spanish tapa recipe! They seemed hard to make until I gave it a try!

Empanadas are pastries filled with a combination of vegetables, tuna or meat. Although those are the classic fillings, they are kind of like pizza and you can pretty much fill them with anything you like! They can be small and bite size (empanadillas) or larger like a small pizza. I prefer the smaller ones, but they are equally common in Spain.

I have experimented with the pastry some until I think I have "perfected" it. You can always use pre-prepared store-made pastry, but making it is easy, so why not? The classic filling is always based on a pisto--a smooth filling of cooked tomatoes, red and green peppers, onion and garlic. You can then add tuna or meat or chicken if you like. Try them, they are worth the effort!

For the pisto:
2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped
1 medium onion roughly chopped
1 red pepper roughly chopped
1/2 green pepper roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
3 TB olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

you will also need another beaten egg to use to "glue" the pastry together

Optional additions to the filling:
Tuna, chicken, beef, pork, etc.
DIRECTIONS

For the pastry:

I like to use my food processor to mix the pastry because it cuts in the butter and shortening really well. You can always do this the old-fashioned way with a pastry cutter.

Combine your flour, salt, butter, shortening and egg into the food processor and blend together. Now slowly add the water until the dough starts to come together. Remove to a lightly floured surface and gently knead for 1 minute or so. Cover in plastic and place in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

For the pisto
Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion and garlic and cook on medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Now add the peppers and tomatoes and reduce the heat to medium. Generously season the vegetables with salt and pepper to your taste. If adding meat, you can add in small chunks now to cook with the vegetables. Cook the vegetables (and meat if applicable) until they are nice and soft (about 15 minutes).

If you have a "wand" type blender, use it to blend down the cooked vegetables still leaving it a little chunky. You can also use the food processor for this.

To make the empanadas:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface so it is about 1/8" thick. Cut out about 6" circles or squares. Place about 1 TB of filling on one-half of the square leaving room around the edges. Lightly spread some beaten egg around the entire edge and fold the empanada in half. Use a fork to press down on the seam and seal the edge (see photo).

Place on a greased baking sheet and bake about 15 minutes or until golden brown. These are great served fresh from the oven or cold the following day. Enjoy!

Return From Empanadas to Home